The Blackfoot Valley's News Source Since 1980
The Blackfoot Valley's News Source Since 1980
Sorted by date Results 301 - 325 of 393
The first half of the 66th session of the Montana Legislature concluded March 1 with transmittal of the House of Representatives' general bills to the Senate. We've deliberated on a number of challenging and hotly-debated bills on the House floor. The Montana Republican caucus has been united on many fronts. One of our main priorities remains funding for our local schools. Early in the session, we made sure that our schools received the biennial funding on which they rely. Wit...
Reading Hope Quay’s column is often a highlight of the day for me. The one about the dogs made me laugh as I hadn’t laughed in weeks! The column of Feb. 27, though, I found very interesting in a different way and it gave me much to contemplate. Perhaps I can offer a different perspective with regards to Indigenous Peoples’ Day. Now, I admit right here that I’m not on social media, so I may have missed much that is pertinent to the discussion. What caused me concern was Quay’s assertion that there is no reason to like Colu...
Three things I learned from the flu. 1. You can’t take care of yourself. Nearly passed out in body pain and over-all weakness, I couldn’t raise my head to answer Art when he asked if I was staying home from church. I grunted what I hoped was the obvious answer. I thought about Jell-O. Jell-O with fruit cocktail. But the only activity I actually accomplished in the next two days was to drag myself to the bathroom and sip on water to keep from dying of dehydration. I couldn’t sleep for 48 hours, strobe lights flashed behin...
It's often said that Montana is like a small town with long streets. Montanans may be separated by hundreds of miles but it's amazing how many mutual friends you find you have after talking with someone for five minutes in this giant small town. A defining characteristic of small towns is that people care about one another and rally together in challenging times. Chances are you've attended at least a few community benefits to raise money for medical bills or to help a family...
It seems that every other TV commercial is for auto insurance. “Save money on your car insurance by being a safe driver.” “Save here on auto insurance with just a few clicks.” State law requires us to carry auto insurance. But it doesn’t do enough to require that insurance companies are fair about how they price these policies for us. Those savings they promise aren’t as straightforward as the ads make it seem. The different rates you see when you compare companies has more to do with the ways insurance companies evaluate pe...
***Editor's Note: At the request of Penny Martin, we are republishing a letter sent to 'The Montana Veteran' newspaper in January 1968 that was important her late husband Frank Martin.*** Dear Civilians, Friends, Draft Dodgers, etc. In the very near future the undersigned will once more be in your midst, dehydrated and demoralized, to take his place again as a human being with the well known forms of freedom and justice for all; engage in life, liberty, and the somewhat delayed pursuit of Happiness. In making your joyous...
To the Editor, In regard to Liz Cain's viewpoints in the Blackfoot Valley Dispatch, may I quote her? "As a teacher, I should be cautious about letting politics or religion into my class discussions." And "If you don't like my opinion that Trump is damaging our democracy, our allies, and the common man, just ask soybean farmers who have lost 80 percent of their sales to China." I will give you $100 if you can find the word democracy in the Constitution of the United States. It...
The Community of Lincoln has again amazed me. With the recent loss of my husband Alan, kindness, friendship, generosity, and love have flooded our lives. Without hesitation, countless individuals have stepped forward to make this horrible loss a bit more bearable. Manpower, desserts, and unconditional love made Alan's celebration of life, a day to remember. Thank you, Lincoln – Together "we got this!" Reg Heikkila and Family...
It's about 10 a.m. Monday morning as I write this, and things seem off kilter. The snowstorm that has finally blanketed Lincoln with much-needed snow continues outside, but something, or rather someone, is missing. It's at about this time on most Mondays that Bill Frisbee would stop in. Today, it would probably be to take a quick break from clearing parking lots of snow, but most times it was just to chat with my wife, Erin. Sometimes it was about projects or events they were...
It seems very odd to me that someone who doesn't seem to understand the English language would quote Shakespeare to support his narrow opinion of me. (Richard Debick 1/16/19) I will try this time to be as clear as possible: neither I, as a teacher, nor a pastor, as the leader of a diverse congregation, should present our opinions as truth in a school, a church, or a newspaper. This does not mean we can't have opinions. We just need to be aware that students, congregations,...
Thrift Store “Neighbors Helping Neighbors” Thank you for your wonderful donations and shopping with us. For the whole month of December, I wanted to help shoppers have fun and get whatever you wanted for $1.00 no matter what item. This was my way to say Merry Christmas!” A lot of you seem to be having a lot of fun shopping. We will be closed for 2 weeks to haul old items to Helena, Great Falls, and Missoula. It’s time to clean out and get in some new stuff. We will be looking for new or like new items, so clean things out and...
I got to know Bill when we served as co-chairmen of the Lincoln hospital district, which was during the design and construction of the new Clinic. That was the only board I have been on, but Bill Frisbee has served on about every committee, board of directors and group associated with Lincoln and the Upper Blackfoot Valley - I believe Bill woke up every day thinking of what he could do to improve his community. Bill's passing brings to mind the lyrics of a song I have been...
Wow, I must have really hit home. It took Liz Cain four really long columns to rebut my belief that Mr. Carroll was entitled to speak his opinions publicly. Personality I have always believed that " brevity is the soul of wit" ( Hamlet, act 2, scene 2.). For being an author she missed that point as well. Many, many men and women also complimented me on my opinion and I am not even an author! I even know people who believe they are artists because they have painted their...
Big Montana Hug and Thank you! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to our “Lincoln Community.” A big grateful thanks all who took a tag from the angel tree at the bank and did some shopping or helped in other ways. Also thank you for the food donations left at the bank and money to help with our Christmas Food Boxes. We helped 69 kids to have a very nice Christmas this year. We sent out 42 Christmas Food Boxes. This year we sent out 10 Thanksgiving Food Boxes at Thanksgiving. Last year we gave three boxes of cereal to eac...
My family and I would like to send a heartfelt Thank You to our wonderful community. From the cup of coffee and wonderful dinners so we could spend time with our kids, to monetary donations to make sure we had a great Christmas to restock and replace so many things, to help to move, all the laundry that was washed so we had smoke free clothes and offers of homes to stay in; from the Christmas gifts, firewood, cookies, and the help boarding up our house, to the rides to town...
I am a Christian minister with a different view than some of what I have been hearing locally. I do not seek any debate but I do feel compelled to write. The Bible is not at odds with our growing knowledge of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. Society as a whole is unaware of biblical scholarship and of modern interpretations of the Bible. These understandings have developed during the last one hundred plus years. Mainline Christianity, including most Protestant...
According to Jennifer, the Lewis and Clark County animal control officer, there is no restraint or leash law in Lincoln. Your dog can be labeled vicious if it bites someone or as a nuisance for barking. You can be issued a citation. If you cannot prove your dog is current in it's vaccinations it can be quarantined for ten days at a $250.00 charge. Even though Lincoln has no restraint law for dogs there could be long lasting consequences for letting your dog run at large. I...
In the days following George H. W. Bush's death, it was impossible to ignore the mood that settled over much of the country: a yearning for the civility, dignity and inclusiveness that the former president represented. It was a form of bipartisan nostalgia for a time when the nation seemed to work. As we head toward 2019, it's equally hard to ignore the ground that this yearning sprang from: a deep-seated doubt that the system can work, and great worry that our democratic...
Some of the first towns in Montana were Virginia City, Helena and Ft. Benton. In the 1860's these small collections of huts, founded on natural resource extraction or river boat trade to support the gold fields, grew quickly. They evolved from settlements into camps and from camps into towns. The towns all had the same things in common in the early days: saloons, banks, doctors, newspapers, churches, law enforcement and schools. What makes a town? Real communities are not...
Travel to a New City Air Fare – Free Food and drinks – Free Luxurious accommodations – Free Destination: New Jerusalem No shoveling snow, no staying in out of the weather, no pollution, no rust, no decay, no thieves, no crime, no fear, no tears. Perfect in every way Time at Destination: Eternal For TRAVEL Restrictions go to the church of your choice and ask for details. All expenses paid by one man who died on the cross. P.S. People everywhere are dying to get to the New City Mike Mullens, Lincoln...
To the Editor, Every now and then you read a letter in the BVD about an outstanding person in Lincoln! This letter is about someone we all know. Her name is Teresa Sutton and she has touched each and everyone of our lives. Working at the Post Office, Teresa is often the first person that people will meet when they move to Lincoln. She is a welcoming ambassador for our town. She supplies them with a PO box and a wealth of information about our town! Teresa is warm hearted,...
How can I express my opinion without starting a feud? Words matter, and they should be written and read carefully. I'm sorry Richard Debick did not understand my words in responding to Dave Carroll's Mountain Musings, so I will clarify here. Of course Mr. Carroll has a right to his opinions. I never said he did not, and I never said mine were more important than his. You missed the point, sir, and I have dozens of emails, notes, phone calls and folks grabbing me at the market...
As former House Speakers and Senate Presidents of the Montana Legislature, we question the wisdom of making significant changes to the rules of operation in the Montana House. Currently, there is a group of legislators trying to change the House rules. One of the proposed changes would allow a simple majority (51 members) to “blast” a bill out of committee and on to the House floor. Their logic is that the Montana Senate operates under simple majority rules so the House should follow suit. The House has twice as many members...
I guess what Liz Cain was saying in an article several weeks ago was that her opinions are all important and Dave Carroll's are not. She even went so far as to criticize him and imply that a minister should not have any right to say the things he did. It seems to me that in the few previous elections that Liz Cain was involved in the people did not think much of her opinions as she was not elected., Has she not noticed that unemployment is down, social security recipients are...
Several weeks ago I saw a little geek standing on a street corner with a sign that said "NRA, NRA how many children have you killed today?" CNN evidently picked up on this and had him on TV. I go back to the year 1935 – I quote Adolph Hitler: "This year will go down in history. For the first time, a civilized nation has full gun registration. Our streets will be safer, our police more efficient, and the world will follow our lead into the future". Between the years of 1935 t...
